Among the big weddings this weekend is Jaime Ardid Martínez-Bordiúwho has a great nose for real estate investments and businesses, and the creative director Ines Ybarra. By express wish of the couple, the wedding will be celebrated on the morning of this Saturday the 28th in privacy and without great fanfare: it will be in the 12th century mansion that the bride’s father owns in the city of Segovia.
Inés comes from one of the big families most important in our country, the Ybarras, who have businesses in the industrial, agricultural and journalistic sectors. For his part, his fiancé is the son of María del Mar Martínez-Bordiúwho has always been considered the most discreet granddaughter of Francisco Franco. In fact, currently, he leads a completely discreet life in Villafranca del Castillo, on the outskirts of Madrid and away from the media spotlight.
© ARCHIVE HELLO!Despite this, Mariola, which is what her loved ones call her, did have aa great social projection until 1980. Especially when he announced his commitment to Jaime Ardid Villoslada in April 1973. From then until the following year, which was when she got married, she monopolized the cover of ¡HOLA! up to five times. Of course, the most impressive was the big day, which was also broadcast on television.
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© GTRESMariola married Jaime Ardid Villoslada on March 14, 1974 at the El Pardo Palace. The ceremony started at seven in the afternoon and with the pomp of a state wedding: more than 900 guests, among whom were representatives of European Royal Houses, aristocrats and politicians, as well as a large representation of the family of the bride, starting with her grandparents, Francisco Franco and Carmen Polo, and those who at the time held the title of Dukes of Cádiz, Carmen Martínez-Bordiú and Alfonso de Borbón.
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© ARCHIVE HELLO!Likewise, the then princes Juan Carlos and Sofia of Greece were present, as well as King Simeon of Bulgaria and his wife, Margarita Gómez Acebo; the grand dukes of Russia; Princess María Gabriela of Savoy and Gonzalo de Borbón; or Princess Tessa of Bavaria. In addition, the then President of the Government, Carlos Arias Navarro, attended; Cayetana De Alba, who came with her eldest son, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart – the current duke; Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones; the March, the Fierro; the Barreiros; Juan Antonio Samaranch…
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© ARCHIVE HELLO!To say ‘yes, I want’ to Jaime Ardid Villoslada, the bride trusted Pedro Rodríguezwho also dressed her Carmen Franco. Mariola’s wedding dress was very sober and gave all the attention to her very long tail and veil – ten meters long – already her imposing diademwith diamonds and large pearls. This jewel, which was the only one the bride wore at her wedding, was a gift from her mother.
The religious ceremony took place in the El Pardo chapel, which was ordered to be built by Philip V following the neoclassical trends of the time. Until then, only two marital unions had been celebrated there: that of Carmen Franco, in April 1950; and that of Carmen Martínez-Bordiú and Alfonso de Borbón, in March 1972. Mariola arrived at the chapel on the arm of her grandfather, Francisco Franco, who was wearing the gala uniform of a captain general.
Behind the bride and her godfather, they walked Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía; and then the groom, Jaime Ardid Villoslada, and his mother. As expected, the ceremony, which lasted one hour and fifteen minutes, was experienced as a true national event. A prominence that contrasts with the discretion with which Mariola Martínez-Bordiú currently leads her life, which has been altered by the wedding of her son Jaime Ardid with Inés Ybarra.
